Tube-loading machine



B. U. EDDY.

TUBE LOADING MACHINE.

APPLICATION men MAY 2s. 191s.

Patented Feb. 24, 1920.

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APPLICATION FILED MAY26, i916.

v Patented Feb. 24,1920'.

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BOUGHTON U. EDDY, OF .PITTSFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, AASSGNOIR. T0 GENERALELECTRIC COMPANY, A COARPORATION OF NEW YORK. f i

TUBE-LOADING MACHINE.

To all'wlwm it maycmwern: Y f

Be 1t known that I, BoUGHToN U. EDDY, a

Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inTube-Loading Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a machine for loading material and particularlypowdered material into a tube, and has for` its object the provision ofa machine of this character which is simple 'and rugged in:construction, and which carries out the operation expeditiously. y I YIn the manufacture of sheathed wire, ofk

the character disclosed in VPatent #1,107,233, which was issued toChester N. Moore, August 11, 1914, a preparatory in ot is formed byplacing centrally in a tube `o suitable material such as steelor copper,a core wire, Y

and 'powdered'v insulating material, such as compacted between .the two.It is necessary that Vthel material should be densely and uniformlycompacted between the core wire and the sheath, otherwise in thesucceeding operations the core wire will not `be drawn down to auniformv diameter, and the sheathed wire will be unsatisfactory.:The'machine made inaccordance withv my. present e. inventionV is welladapted to expeditiously load the tubes in the desired manner. While Ihave illustrated a machine that is particularly adaptedl for thisparticular application, itwill be understood that it is notv limitedv tosuch application, but is well adapted for general use. f For a fullerunderstanding of my invention, reference may be had to the accompanyingdrawings in which Figure 1 1s a side elevation of a machine embodying myof; Fig. 3 is a cross section taken on the line a-a., Fig.,2, andlooking in the direction of the arrows; Fig. the attachment between theplunger and the head to which it is secured; Fig. 5 is a bottom planview of the part shown in Fig. 4 V;V Fig. 6 is a vertical sectionthrough thehopper ,for the powdered material; and Fig. 7 1salongitudin'al section of a tube to be filled and 4 is a detail Viewshowing l Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Feb,y 24, 1920,

Application filed May 26, 1916. Serial No. 100,120. i i

therein. Y

Referring now to the drawings, A is the frame for the machine, whichcomprises a base plate 1, from which ascends the sup- ,thel plungerwhich compacts the material porting frame 2, which is Up-shaped in crossY vsection ras shown in Fig. 3; VThe front of.

the vertical frame is formed with a'cfhannel 2 (see Fig. 3) whichconstitutes a guide for a yielding supporting base 4 for the tube to befilled. In' the form here shown this sup- .porting base is connected toa counterweight 5, by means of a wire rope or other flexible connection6, which passesover a sector 7,

looselymounted on a shaft 8 passing through the machine. The' tube 9,which is to be 'loaded with material, and centrally of which is the corewire 10, is seated at its lower end in a head 11, and atits upper end inthe bottom of a funnel '13, so that the tube registers with theopening'through the fumiel. The headll is carried by a bracket 12attached tothe base 4. The head. 11 is directly mounted on a screw shaft15 which passes through an internally threaded revoluble sleeve 14mounted on the bracket 12. This sleeve is provided with a bevel gear 16with which meshes a gear 17 secured on a shaft which lis journaled inthe upper endgof bracket l2,

which shaft is provided with a handle 18 by l means of which gears 16and 17 are rotated,

and the'head 11 raised and lowered with respect to the supporting base4. The material is compacted in the tube by a plunger l19, which isprovided with a central opening 19*L (see Fig. 7) in which the coreyWire is received. The plunger is reciprocated by a, Y

plunger is heldin position against the head 20.

The head 20 is reciprocated and the nia-y chine may be operated by anelectric motor 24,to the shaft of which is secured a pinion 25. Thispinion engages a gear 26 mounted on a counter shaft, to the other end ofwhich is secured a gear 27 This gear in turn enwhich is engaged by apiv- Y v 45 ing of the plate 43 powdered material which is to beintroducedV into the tube. A tube 49 communicates with lthe bottom ofthe hopper `and with the 35 on the disk 31.

gages a gear 28, secured to a shaft 37. A gear 29 is loosely mounted onthe shaft37 and meshes with a gear 30, secured to a shaft on the outerend of which is secured a disk Y 31, provided with a counterweight 32.The

disk 31 is connected to the supportinghead by a link 33, the upper endof which 1s adjustably secured to thedisk 31 by means of a clampingmember 34, provided with a series of teeth engaging correspondin teethThe lower end of t elink 33 is pivoted at 33*l to the supportingfhead20. The motor is connected to, and isconv nectedfrom the disk 31 byVmeans of a clutch 44- charged '.thetube' in the manner which will `beheretrally through the hopper above and belou77V the same. A disk orplate 43 isdisposed in the bottom of thecontainer 40 and is providedwith a plurality of openings 44, each of which is designed toucontainthe proper amount of powdered materiall to be intr duced into thertubein a single charge. The plate 43 is provided with a shank 45 which .maybe integral with the plate and which eX- tends upwardly through theAhopper and which is secured together with the plate to the shaft 42.Located immediately above the disk or plate 43 is a stationarycover'plate 46, which is provided with a shank 47 jsurrounding the shank45 of the plate 43. The plate 46 is provided with an opening 48 so thatwhen one of the openings 44 of the plate the plate 43, the open- 43 lisbrought beneath will be filled with the funnel 13, and whenV one oftheopenings with powder is brought over inafter more fully described, thechargefof powder is fed to the funnel. In orderto intermittently movethe shaft 42 and the disk or plate 43 which :is secured theretoangularly, the upper end of the shaft is provided with a clutchA Cgwhichis operated by a pin 50 carried Yby a bracket 50a on the head 20. Onemember 51 of the clutch is 'secured `tothe upper end of the shaft 42.This member, which is in the form of a cylinder, is formed on its lowerside with ratchet teethfC, as

shown inFig. 2. `The cooperating member 52 of the clutch is alsosubstantially cylinfv failed to register kthe core wire,

dric'al in form and is provided at its upper end with ratchet teethengaging those of the member 51. The member 52 is held in engagementwith the other member of the clutch by means of a spring 53, interposedbetween the lower end of the clutch member 52 and a boss 54 formed` onthe frame.y The member 52 is provided with a spiral groove 'whichisengaged by the pin 50, carried by the bracket 50a During the upwardmovement of the head20, pin 50 engages the vspiral groove and rotatesmember 52, and as theV teeth formed thereon engage the teeth of theother member of the clutch, the shaft 42'is rotated, and. with t-the.disk or plate 43, to cause a` charge of powder in one ofthe openings inthe plate to be brought over the soA upper end of the tube 49. `Whentheghead 20.

`moves downwardly, the clutch member` 5 2 vis rotated inthe Voppositedirection; during lthis movement, the teeth formed thereon ride over`the teeth formed on the other'n'iember parts cooperating therewith,remain inthe same position in whichr they were left at the 51 of theclutch,v andV the shaft 42 andthe i end ofthe upward movement of thehead 20;v It will, of course,rbe understood that the openings 44 formedinthe disk .Y 43 are Vso designedv with reference tothe angular movementof the clutch member52, that one of the openingsprwill be brought in`position toempty a charge of material into the tube 49 each time'thehead 20 is reciprocated.

Sincethe plunger 19 surrounds the core wire 10 of theitube, and iswithdrawnfrom the tube after and since the supportingbase for the tubeis each compacting operation,

advanced at each compacting operation, it

necessary to release the plunger at thesame dlstance Vor substantiallythe same distance tionfpand in a position where it.v surrounds i a fromthe tube after eacheompacting opera- Y the core wire; otherwise, iifltheplunger were withdrawnfromthe core wire andthe latter exactly with -t'heopening inr the plunger, Y `crumpled when the plunger nextentered thetube.V In order to being withdrawn from the proj cctin g end of theplunger iSV releasedjat each the core wire would be Y prevent theplunger; from f upwardmovement of the head2() by cam i memberl 56carried by a'bar-Zfwliielris 'secured at its lower end to the supportingbase" 4. ASince the cam 56 reInainSatthe same dietance from thesupporting b.ase,1t is apparent that theplunger will always 'bel.released 'at the same distance withoutthetube), and Vmay readily be sodesigned that it`will be left in. a position surrounding the core wire.

I have here shown the lowerY end of thebar 57 provided with a. rack 58which is engaged by a pinion 58a. v.This isfor the purpose of adj ustingthe head of the bar andlaccordingly adjusting` the positionat which theVplunger will be released. `The pinion 58aY is locked in` any desiredposition by a lock nut (not shown in the drawing). The positionotrelease of the plunger may th-usbe varied in zccordance with thelength of the tube to be lled. v A v The movable supporting base 4:` forvthe tube and the counterweight'are loclsredV in successively advancedpositions by the tolv lowing mechanism: A `pawl59 carried on a segment 7by an intermediate sleeve and is y A movable therewith.

stud'60 secured to one side of the segment 7 (see Fig. 3) engages aratchet wheel 61, carriedon one end of a shaft 62, journalfed in abearing in the segment` 7. On the 'other end of the shaft 62 is a pinion63, which engages a spur gear 64 which'is keyed on the shaft 8. A wormgear 65 is secured to the outer end of the shaft 8, and is engaged by aworm wheel 66, mounted on a shaft 67 and controlled by a `hand wheel 68.It will be seen that as the tube is filled with successive charges or'powder, the supportingcbase ismoved downwardly againstthe counterweight5, and during this movement the pinion 63 rides over the spur gear 64and the teeth of the ratchet wheel 61 ride beneath the pawl 59. Theengagement of the pawl with the ratchet wheel, however, prevents thecounterweight from returning to its original position. It will beunderstood that during the loading operation, the shaft 8 is not movedAbut is secured in position by the worm wheel 65 and the coperating wormgear 66.

In order to break the driving connection between the motor and thedisk31 which operates the plunger at the time the tube is filled, a lever 69is provided which is pivoted at 70 and thelower end ofwhich is in thepath of movement of a pin 71, carried by a strap or member 72 which issecured to the l The member 69 is connected by a link 73 to the handle38. Now when the tube 9 has been filled, the base 4; has been moveddownwardly,'and the segf ment 7 has passed through a sutlicient angularmovement to cause the pin 71 to engage the lower end of the lever 69 tooperate the clutch.

The operation ot the machine embodying my invention will be readilyunderstood from the above description, and is as follows: A tube with acore wire is secured in position in the manner described above; themachine is'then started in operation and at each revolution of the disk31 a charge orn powdered material is introduced linto thel vfunnel andto the tube in the manner described above, and is compacted in the tubeby the movement of the plunger. Successive charges are similarlyintroduced to thel tube and compacted therein, the supportingpletely'filled,the clutch breaksthe driving connection between the motory and the plunger,f and the machine may then be stopped until the lilledtube is removed and an empty one inserted in its place. The weight isthen returned to its lowered posil tion by turning the hand wheel 68.,

WhileA I have 'described my invention as i embodying aV concretestructure andasop- Aerating `in a specific manner,in` accordance "withthe requirementsof thepatent statutes, itfshouldbe understood that my"invention is not limited thereto, since various modifications thereofwill suggest themselves to those skilled inthe art without ,departingfrom?v the spirit .ofmy invention, the scope v.of which is set forth inthe annexed claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of. theUnited States, is,

1. A machine for loading material into al tube, comprising a yieldingbase for supporting the tube', means for gradually intro-l Vforintroducing successive charges of material to said tube, means forsuccessively compacting the same therein, and means for maintaining saidbase in its successively advanced positions during the loadingoperation. i

4. A machine for loading material into a tube which has a core wireprojecting therefrom', `comprising a yielding base for sup-` porting thetube, means for introducing succ cessive charges of material into saidtube,

a reciprocating head, a plunger releasably f secured thereto, andmeans"V for releasing said plunger without said tube and in 'a positionsurrounding the core extension after each packing operation. Y

. 5. A lmachine for loading material into a tube, i comprising ayielding baseffor supporting.Y ther tube, a reciprocating head, meanscoperating with said head for infor compacting successive charges ofmaterial in the tube, and means for maintaining said base initssuccessively advanced positions during the loading operation.

6. VA machine'for loading material into a troducing'successive chargesof material into r said` tube, a plunger secured tol said head Y tubewhich has a core Wireprojecting there-V ,which Ythe'plunger 'isattached, means for,-

maintaining saidbase in its successively advanced positions during thepacking opera'-V tion, and means for releasing said plunger Without saidtube and incaY position surrounding the extension after each lpackingoperation. n

7; AA machine for loading material into a tube which has a core wireprojecting therefrom, comprising a yielding basefor sup' porting thetube, means for introducing successive charges ofyniaterial into saidtube, a reciprocating head, a plungerv releasably secured thereto forcompacting the successive charges Lof material in the tube, means forreleasing said plungerv withoutsaid ,tube n and in a positionsurrounding the core-.ex- .c

tension after each packing operation,l and means `:for adjusting theposition ofreleas of the head.`

In WitnessV whereof I have hereunto; vset l my handthis twenty-third'lday of- May, 1916,4 J Y BoUGHToN U.v EDDY.'

